It was decided to "chuck out" records of the Ruskin students' union and past dissertations. We know this because of email records.

These traces of working-class lives in Ruskin's records are invaluable. Historians know this, archivists know this, past and present staff and students know this. What a shame that the present principal abjures such knowledge.Dr Hilda KeanFormer dean, Ruskin College, Oxford

• Your editorial raises wider issues about how documents that may be useful to future generations of historians should be treated. Storing archives is an expensive business, particularly if they are to be kept in a condition that avoids deterioration. There needs to be a positive legal duty on institutions to deposit archival material with appropriate bodies, and funding to make sure this can happen.

There is no point in going on about what a great history Britain has and then throwing in a skip all the records that will allow future generations to understand what that history was.Keith FlettLondon Socialist Historians Group

• Perhaps the principal of Ruskin College is just a law-abiding professional – merely a bit overzealous about cleaning out musty old archives. Or perhaps the trashing of Ruskin's past is one last step in creating the social work college she always wanted. Katherine HughesFormer Ruskin College tutor, Oxford

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